Mayor Helen Miller of White Springs received the 2012 Suwannee River League of Cities (SRLC) Municipal Official of the Year award at last Thursday's (April 11) quarterly Board of Directors' Meeting held in Madison, FL.

Florida League of Cities President Manny Marono, Mayor of Sweetwater, made the presentation to Mayor Miller. In his presentation, Marono stated: "The 2012 SRLC Municipal Official of the Year has accomplished a great deal in her 32 months of service. This individual worked to start summer enrichment and after school programs for K-12 youth, as well as an adult and community education program. Through these initiatives, the town has made use of more than $300,000 in grant funding. The after school program was saved after funding ran out through the diligence of this individual and the community. The 2012 Municipal Official of the Year has worked in cooperation with the University of Florida to complete an architectural visioning for the community and presented the plan at the Florida Rural Economic Summit and to Governor Rick Scott.

The award recipient was nominated for her tireless effort on projects and resolutions that address and attempt to reverse the continued drawdown of the Floridan Aquifer. She has also worked to establish food and fuel banks in her community, hosted a series of community forums to identify the concerns of the citizenry, appointed committees or individuals to act on citizens' concerns, and initiated the position of Health Counsel for White Springs.

When a group of juveniles broke into her home, Miller worked to create programs that benefit youth and adults in the community instead of seeking punishment for the individuals.

A quote from her nomination reads: "Mayor Miller has made White Springs a better place to live and has brought all sides of our community together to address our problems, needs, hopes and aspirations."

After being named Municipal Official of the Year, Mayor Miller was installed as a new SRLC Board Member to serve the 2013-1015 term.

About White Springs...

Many people are attracted to the White Springs community because of the historic Suwannee River which flows right through the Town. The river promises much excitement and entertainment for White Springs as well as the surrounding counties.
The river offers opportunity for the boating enthusiast, the canoeist, and divers. Many enjoy simply floating along the river banks fishing for red-bellies, brim, mullet and catfish. Divers come from all over the country to dive in the many springs that spawn off of the river. There are plenty of caves to explore along the Suwannee River..

Come to White Springs and take advantage of this beautiful rural scenery that we are so blessed to have. It is more than just a place to drive through.

White Springs is a small, friendly town nestled on the banks of the Suwannee River, where pride in family, community and patriotism create a wonderful quality of life. It is a peaceful, rural area of natural beauty balancing the old with the new.

Enjoy browsing our website and then make plans to come see what you are missing here inWhite Springs Florida. More HERE

Government

The Town of White Springs operates under the Council-Manager form of government. The Town Council is elected by the voters and in turn, the Council appoints a professionally trained individual as its Town Manager. It is the responsibility of the Town Manager to handle day to day operation of city business. The Town Council makes policy decisions, and votes on all legislative or quasi-judicial matters required or enabled by state or federal law.

All of the seats on the Council are at-large seats which means all council represent the Town at large and not any particular district. This allows residents to address particular issues with any council Member.

William (Bill) Lawrence is the Town Manager for the Town of White Springs, Florida.

After graduating from the University of Maine, Bill Lawrence has served the public for over 33 years. Bill has been employed as a police officer, police chief and town manager in the State of Maine. Bill had great success as town manager, personnel director and economic development director in Lincoln Maine and has creating new jobs and increased the tax base with his economic development strategies. Bill has a conservative approach of reducing budgets and increasing revenues. Bill and his wife look forward to living in White Springs to be closer to family in Florida and to take on the challenges facing White Springs.y.

Elections
Town elections are held the 4th Tuesday of April each year. Even number years the town elects three council members and odd numbered years two are elected. The candidate who polls the highest number of votes for office shall be declared the winner thereof. The officials are sworn in the following Thursday after the election at which time the council elects among itself a mayor and vice mayor.

The Town Clerk is a charter official and reports to the Town Manager & Town Council.The Town Clerk is responsible for giving notice of public meetings and maintaining an accurate record of all proceedings. The Town Clerk also serves as the municipal Supervisor of Elections, administers the publication of the Town Charter, and maintains custody of the Town’s vital records including agreements, contracts, minutes, ordinances, proclamations, and resolutions.

Pam Tomlinson has been employed with the town for over 12 years and is also a member of Florida Government Finance Officers Association.

Administrative Assistant

The Adminstrative Assistant answers phones and provides general information, run errands for
Administrative Staff, Type letters and documents, Make copies and collates documents, Take utility payments and Assist Finance Director/Town Clerk and Town Manager.

Anita T. Rivers has been a resident of White Springs for 24 years and was hired December 3, 2013 by the Town of White Springs.

Downtown Enhancement Project

Looking to relocate your business or open a new business? Come to White Springs. White Springs is the home of the largest employer in Hamilton County with over 700 employees who drive through White Springs each day going and leaving work. Our festivals bring thousands of visitors yearly. MORE

History of the Town of White Springs

White Sulphur Spring has drawn people to the bend in the Suwannee River that is the site of the Town of White Springs for centuries. Artifacts from Paleo-Indians and Timucuans are commonly found there, with shell middens and burial mounds close by.

First incorporated as Jackson Springs in 1831 by a group of businessmen who saw the spring and a good site for a ferry as moneymaking opportunities. William B. Hooker (who later became a cattle baron in Tampa), James T. Hooker, James D. Prevatt, Joseph Bryant and John Lee obtained the incorporation papers

By 1832 the healing powers of the waters surrounded with rocks encrusted with crystals of sulfur was being celebrated as far away as Philadelphia. CHB Collins established a ferry just up river from the spring and Florida’s first tourist destination was in business.

Bryant Sheffield, who took over the ferry in 1836, built a log hotel and built a log springhouse at Upper Mineral Springs, as it was then known. From there, the resort grew. During the Civil War,

Confederates found refuge from encroaching Union troops in the inland town. The Broward family, including the future governor Florida, Napoleon Bonaparte Broward, moved from Fernandina to a plantation outside town and called it Rebel’s Refuge.

Wight and Powell, a prosperous mercantile business in Georgia, bought the spring property known as White Suphur Springs from the Sheffields in 1882 and laid out city lots. They sold to enterprising folks to establish retail stores, suppliers for the Sea Island cotton planters in the surrounding area and services for the burgeoning health and pleasure resort centered on the spring. The settlement incorporated in 1885 as White Springs.

Soon there were large hotels, boarding houses, cotton buyers and a gin, fashionable clothing and hat shops, a college for teachers and all manner of entertainment of the day including skating, lawn tennis and ballroom dancing. Stagecoaches gave way to railroad travel and the automobile replaced that.

The popularity of mineral springs as health resorts faded in the 1930s but by 1950 the Stephen Foster Memorial Museum, surrounded by lush formal gardens and later a carillon containing the world’s largest set of tubular bells, which honors the author of the world-renowned song of the Suwannee River, “Old Folks at Home”, continued the tourist trade.

Modern White Springs looks remarkably like it did in the 1950s. The frame general store, Adams Brothers, still stands alongside the scale used to weigh cotton. Hosting the Florida Folk Festival for 60 years has earned White Springs a reputation as a folk arts center. Bicycle trails abound in the serene woods and other natural areas along the Suwannee. Trophy fishing is available just outside town. The Florida Trail passes through the town attracting hikers and the Suwannee River is great for canoeing.